In this episode, we talk about how new additives could be added to concrete to help it absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, which is a major contributor to climate change. By using these additives, concrete could become a &quot;carbon sink,&quot; which means it could potentially store more carbon than it emits, making it a more sustainable building material. This could have a positive impact on the environment and help combat climate change.&nbsp;<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/b0f4970e-413e-4687-90f1-30d788ed5208?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe><hr><h3 id="isPasted">EPISODE NOTES</h3>(0:40) - <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/new-additives-could-turn-concrete-into-an-effective-carbon-sink" target="_blank">New additives could turn concrete into an effective carbon sink</a><hr>As always, you can find these and other interesting &amp; impactful engineering articles on Wevolver.com.To learn more about this show, please visit our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" target="_blank">shows page</a>. By following the page, you will get automatic updates by email when a new show is published. Be sure to give us a follow and review on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/the-next-byte/id1548255861?l=en" target="_blank">Apple</a> podcasts,&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6lPPsRtegnivsRUEsQ09R7?si=IPMiah7xT_apJtPjqvXMlA" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, and most of your favorite podcast platforms!--The Next Byte Podcast: We&#39;re two engineers on a mission to simplify complex science &amp; technology, making it easy to understand. In each episode of our show, we dive into world-changing tech (such as AI, robotics, 3D printing, IoT, &amp; much more), all while keeping it entertaining &amp; engaging along the way.

Introducing additives to concrete manufacturing processes could reduce the sizeable carbon footprint of the material without altering its bulk mechanical properties, an MIT study shows. Courtesy of the researchers

In this episode, we talk about how new additives could be added to concrete to help it absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, which is a major contributor to climate change.

Podcast: Carbon Soaking Concrete

<h2>FACTUREE produces a joint component for nodes of a variable grid structure for a research project at TUM</h2>The &ldquo;Kinetic Umbrella&rdquo; research project at the department of architecture at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) investigates the applicability of flexurally elastic mechanisms in the area of variable grid structures. The controlled elastic deformation of the grid bars enables spatially complex variation processes. An international collaboration with industry was launched to build a prototype for the first semi-elastic variable grid structure. TUM commissioned Online Manufacturer FACTUREE with producing the small format joint components for the nodes.One of the main focus areas of the department of architecture at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) includes the research and development of innovative building technologies. As part of a doctoral thesis on &ldquo;Elastic Mechanisms in Grid Structures&rdquo;, fundamental concepts were already developed and successfully implemented in static applications within the &ldquo;Kinetic Umbrella&rdquo; research project. The development includes methods of mechanical simu&not;lation, the morphology of elastic mechanisms, architectural and constructive approaches, as well as suitable materials.In the next step, the potential of such mechanisms for variable constructions will be investigated. For this purpose, a prototype for the first semi-elastic variable grid structure will be developed, featuring a foldable umbrella design with a diameter of eight meters.<h2 id="isPasted">Production of prototype with components from Online Manufacturer</h2>M.Sc. Jonas Schikore, civil engineer and research associate at the Technical University of Munich, explains, &ldquo;Some of the components are produced in our own workshops at TUM. However, when we reach the technical limits of our facilities, we involve third-party suppliers. This was the case in our current project in the production of aluminum extruded profiles. When producing prototypes, it is common practice to have some components made by third parties.&rdquo;For planning the prototypes, TUM uses mainly 3D models. Specialized manufacturers are often brought on board to support the process.&ldquo;In the construction sector, you always need customized components sooner or later. Our focus is on the research and development of innovative building technologies. As our developments need to account for the industrial processes in order to yield practical solutions and technologies, we are in constant contact with industry for this,&rdquo; says M.Sc. Jonas Schikore.Against this background, TUM decided to collaborate with Online Manufacturer FACTUREE, which they had learned about through an internet search, because building the prototype requires customized components. The department of architecture could easily upload 3D models in FACTUREE&rsquo;s online interface and obtained a calculation within 24 hours. Other competitors did not react to inquiries as quickly.FACTUREE is a trademark of cwmk GmbH and has an extensive production network of over 1000 manufacturing partners, mainly in the areas of CNC machining, sheet metal processing, 3D printing, and surface technology. In the &ldquo;Kinetic Umbrella&rdquo; project, the company supplies the joint component for the nodes of the variable grid structure.&ldquo;The components procured through FACTUREE are small-format joint components. The aluminum component can be attached eccentrically to GRP laminates and forms the socket for a pivot bolt. It has inner threads and is suitable for a direct friction-lock connection with the connecting component. It is optically particularly appealing due to the surface treatment,&rdquo; explains M.Sc. Jonas Schikore.<h2 id="isPasted">Fast provision times and on-time deliveries</h2>With the Online Manufacturer, TUM utilizes an especially modern form of procurement. The online network approach allows customized components to be manufactured with a high level of precision and be delivered quickly by specialized suppliers. However, FACTUREE is the only contract partner involved, being responsible for selecting the most suitable manufacturer and handling the entire process.TUM decided to have their parts provided by FACTUREE because of the convenient contact, the preparation of a timely quotation, and the reasonable delivery times.M.Sc. Jonas Schikore reports, &ldquo;We were able to lower the costs of the components after some consultations. For us, the obvious strengths of FACTUREE include the ease of transmitting data and the fast, reliable quotation. The direct personal communication and consulting was also decisive for the smooth procedure. Our contacts responded immediately to our email inquiries and telephone support was also readily available. The cooperation thus far was appraised by our employees to be positive and competent as well.&rdquo;<h2>Online Manufacturing will continue to be an option in the future</h2>In future projects, TUM will continue to rely on high-quality components and optimized costs. &ldquo;At the chair for structural design, we build prototypes and new developments on a regular basis for our research projects. With FACTUREE, we can now react quickly and efficiently, because the Online Manufacturer offers a wide production range, good prices, and fast provision times. We were very impressed with the quality of the components supplied. Delivery was on time, perceptibly easing our planning and construction process. We will turn to FACTUREE again for further needs going forward,&rdquo; concludes M.Sc. Jonas Schikore.

FACTUREE produces a joint component for nodes of a variable grid structure for a research project at TUM

Online Manufacturing of Aluminum Component for Prototype in the "Kinetic Umbrella" Research Project

This article was discussed in our <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte&source=gmail&ust=1672821999265000&usg=AOvVaw3lLKdHdEN0YvCEsaHI7hx9" href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Next Byte podcast</a>.&nbsp;<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/b0f4970e-413e-4687-90f1-30d788ed5208?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> The full article will continue below.<hr>This article was first published on <a href="https://news.mit.edu/2023/new-additives-concrete-effective-carbon-sink-0328" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MIT News</a>. &nbsp;<hr>Despite the many advantages of concrete as a modern construction material, including its high strength, low cost, and ease of manufacture, its production currently accounts for approximately 8 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.Recent discoveries by a team at MIT have revealed that introducing new materials into existing concrete manufacturing processes could significantly reduce this carbon footprint, without altering concrete&rsquo;s bulk mechanical properties.The findings are published today in the journal&nbsp;PNAS Nexus, in a&nbsp;<a href="https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/3/pgad052/7089570" target="_blank">paper</a> by MIT professors of civil and environmental engineering Admir Masic and Franz-Josef Ulm, MIT postdoc Damian Stefaniuk and doctoral student Marcin Hajduczek, and James Weaver from Harvard University&rsquo;s Wyss Institute.After water, concrete is the world&rsquo;s second most consumed material, and represents the cornerstone of modern infrastructure. During its manufacturing, however, large quantities of carbon dioxide are released, both as a chemical byproduct of cement production and in the energy required to fuel these reactions.&nbsp;Approximately half of the emissions associated with concrete production come from the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas, which are used to heat up a mix of limestone and clay that ultimately becomes the familiar gray powder known as ordinary Portland cement (OPC). While the energy required for this heating process could eventually be substituted with electricity generated from renewable solar or wind sources, the other half of the emissions is inherent in the material itself: As the mineral mix is heated to temperatures above 1,400 degrees Celsius (2,552 degrees Fahrenheit), it undergoes a chemical transformation from calcium carbonate and clay to a mixture of clinker (consisting primarily of calcium silicates) and carbon dioxide &mdash; with the latter escaping into the air.When OPC is mixed with water, sand, and gravel material during the production of concrete, it becomes highly alkaline, creating a seemingly ideal environment for the sequestration and long-term storage of carbon dioxide in the form of carbonate materials (a process known as carbonation). Despite this potential of concrete to naturally absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, when these reactions normally occur, mainly within cured concrete, they can both weaken the material and lower the internal alkalinity, which accelerates the corrosion of the reinforcing rebar. These processes ultimately destroy the load-bearing capacity of the building and negatively impact its long-term mechanical performance. As such, these slow late-stage carbonation reactions, which can occur over timescales of decades, have long been recognized as undesirable pathways that accelerate concrete deterioration.&ldquo;The problem with these postcuring carbonation reactions,&rdquo; Masic says, &ldquo;is that you disrupt the structure and chemistry of the cementing matrix that is very effective in preventing steel corrosion, which leads to degradation.&rdquo;In contrast, the new carbon dioxide sequestration pathways discovered by the authors rely on the very early formation of carbonates during concrete mixing and pouring, before the material sets, which might largely eliminate the detrimental effects of carbon dioxide uptake after the material cures.&nbsp;The key to the new process is the addition of one simple, inexpensive ingredient: sodium bicarbonate, otherwise known as baking soda. In lab tests using sodium bicarbonate substitution, the team demonstrated that up to 15 percent of the total amount of carbon dioxide associated with cement production could be mineralized during these early stages &mdash; enough to potentially make a significant dent in the material&rsquo;s global carbon footprint.&quot;It&#39;s all very exciting,&quot; Masic says, &quot;because our research advances the concept of multifunctional concrete by incorporating the added benefits of carbon dioxide mineralization during production and casting.&rdquo;Furthermore, the resulting concrete sets much more quickly via the formation of a previously undescribed composite phase, without impacting its mechanical performance. This process thus allows the construction industry to be more productive: Form works can be removed earlier, reducing the time required to complete a bridge or building.The composite, a mix of calcium carbonate and calcium silicon hydrate, &ldquo;is an entirely new material,&rdquo; Masic says. &ldquo;Furthermore, through its formation, we can double the mechanical performance of the early-stage concrete.&rdquo; However, he adds, this research is still an ongoing effort. &ldquo;While it is currently unclear how the formation of these new phases will impact the long-term performance of concrete, these new discoveries suggest an optimistic future for the development of carbon neutral construction materials.&rdquo;While the idea of early-stage concrete carbonation is not new, and there are several existing companies that are currently exploring this approach to facilitate carbon dioxideuptake after concrete is cast into its desired shape, the current discoveries by the MIT team highlight the fact that the precuring capacity of concrete to sequester carbon dioxide has been largely underestimated and underutilized.&ldquo;Our new discovery could further be combined with other recent innovations in the development of lower carbon footprint concrete admixtures to provide much greener, and even carbon-negative construction materials for the built environment, turning concrete from being a problem to a part of a solution,&rdquo; Masic says.<hr>&quot;Reprinted with permission of&nbsp;<a href="https://news.mit.edu/2023/new-additives-concrete-effective-carbon-sink-0328" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MIT News</a>&quot; &nbsp;

MIT engineers discover new carbonation pathways for creating more environmentally friendly concrete.

New additives could turn concrete into an effective carbon sink

This article was first published on&nbsp;<a href="https://news.mit.edu/2023/integrating-humans-ai-structural-design-0302" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MIT News</a>. &nbsp;<hr>Modern fabrication tools such as 3D printers can make structural materials in shapes that would have been difficult or impossible using conventional tools. Meanwhile, new generative design systems can take great advantage of this flexibility to create innovative designs for parts of a new building, car, or virtually any other device.But such &ldquo;black box&rdquo; automated systems often fall short of producing designs that are fully optimized for their purpose, such as providing the greatest strength in proportion to weight or minimizing the amount of material needed to support a given load. Fully manual design, on the other hand, is time-consuming and labor-intensive.Now, researchers at MIT have found a way to achieve some of the best of both of these approaches. They used an automated design system but stopped the process periodically to allow human engineers to evaluate the work in progress and make tweaks or adjustments before letting the computer resume its design process. Introducing a few of these iterations produced results that performed better than those designed by the automated system alone, and the process was completed more quickly compared to the fully manual approach.The results are reported this week in the journal Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, in a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00158-023-03512-0" target="_blank">paper</a> by MIT doctoral student Dat Ha and assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering Josephine Carstensen.The basic approach can be applied to a broad range of scales and applications, Carstensen explains, for the design of everything from biomedical devices to nanoscale materials to structural support members of a skyscraper. Already, automated design systems have found many applications. &ldquo;If we can make things in a better way, if we can make whatever we want, why not make it better?&rdquo; she asks.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a way to take advantage of how we can make things in much more complex ways than we could in the past,&rdquo; says Ha, adding that automated design systems have already begun to be widely used over the last decade in automotive and aerospace industries, where reducing weight while maintaining structural strength is a key need.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1677766026370-MIT-Interactive-Design-01-press_0.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">This sequence shows an example of the iterative design process in action. On top, you can see the AI-designed initial version of a support beam. In the second and third images, a human operator highlights two support segments as unnecessary. The bottom image shows how the AI system incorporates that input by eliminating those segments and strengthening others to compensate. Credit: Courtesy of the researchers, edited by MIT News.&ldquo;You can take a lot of weight out of components, and in these two industries, everything is driven by weight,&rdquo; he says. In some cases, such as internal components that aren&rsquo;t visible, appearance is irrelevant, but for other structures aesthetics may be important as well. The new system makes it possible to optimize designs for visual as well as mechanical properties, and in such decisions the human touch is essential.As a demonstration of their process in action, the researchers designed a number of structural load-bearing beams, such as might be used in a building or a bridge. In their iterations, they saw that the design has an area that could fail prematurely, so they selected that feature and required the program to address it. The computer system then revised the design accordingly, removing the highlighted strut and strengthening some other struts to compensate, and leading to an improved final design.The process, which they call Human-Informed Topology Optimization, begins by setting out the needed specifications &mdash; for example, a beam needs to be this length, supported on two points at its ends, and must support this much of a load. &ldquo;As we&rsquo;re seeing the structure evolve on the computer screen in response to initial specification,&rdquo; Carstensen says, &ldquo;we interrupt the design and ask the user to judge it. The user can select, say, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m not a fan of this region, I&rsquo;d like you to beef up or beef down this feature size requirement.&rsquo; And then the algorithm takes into account the user input.&rdquo;While the result is not as ideal as what might be produced by a fully rigorous yet significantly slower design algorithm that considers the underlying physics, she says it can be much better than a result generated by a rapid automated design system alone. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t get something that&rsquo;s quite as good, but that was not necessarily the goal. What we can show is that instead of using several hours to get something, we can use 10 minutes and get something much better than where we started off.&rdquo;The system can be used to optimize a design based on any desired properties, not just strength and weight. For example, it can be used to minimize fracture or buckling, or to reduce stresses in the material by softening corners.Carstensen says, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not looking to replace the seven-hour solution. If you have all the time and all the resources in the world, obviously you can run these and it&rsquo;s going to give you the best solution.&rdquo; But for many situations, such as designing replacement parts for equipment in a war zone or a disaster-relief area with limited computational power available, &ldquo;then this kind of solution that catered directly to your needs would prevail.&rdquo;Similarly, for smaller companies manufacturing equipment in essentially &ldquo;mom and pop&rdquo; businesses, such a simplified system might be just the ticket. The new system they developed is not only simple and efficient to run on smaller computers, but it also requires far less training to produce useful results, Carstensen says. A basic two-dimensional version of the software, suitable for designing basic beams and structural parts, is freely available <a href="https://github.com/datquocha/CarstensenGroup_Public" target="_blank">now online</a>, she says, as the team continues to develop a full 3D version.&ldquo;The potential applications of Prof Carstensen&rsquo;s research and tools are quite extraordinary,&rdquo; says Christian M&aacute;laga-Chuquitaype, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Imperial College London, who was not associated with this work. &ldquo;With this work, her group is paving the way toward a truly synergistic human-machine design interaction.&rdquo;&ldquo;By integrating engineering &lsquo;intuition&rsquo; (or engineering &lsquo;judgement&rsquo;) into a rigorous yet computationally efficient topology optimization process, the human engineer is offered the possibility of guiding the creation of optimal structural configurations in a way that was not available to us before,&rdquo; he adds. &ldquo;Her findings have the potential to change the way engineers tackle &lsquo;day-to-day&rsquo; design tasks.&rdquo;<hr>&quot;Reprinted with permission of&nbsp;<a href="https://news.mit.edu/2023/integrating-humans-ai-structural-design-0302" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MIT News</a>&quot; &nbsp;

A process that seeks feedback from human specialists proves more effective at optimization than automated systems working alone.

Integrating humans with AI in structural design

How do you measure the volume of a hole in the ground?If the hole is small and rectangular, it is simple. But what about the giant hole dug for the foundations of a city center skyscraper, or for a new underground train station? It will generally be irregular in all three dimensions, and very large.Accurately measuring the volume of excavation works is a little known but surprisingly contentious, time-consuming and expensive process for building companies to perform. The work calls for the services of highly paid and scarce surveyors.Now <a href="https://sodex-innovations.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sodex Innovations</a>, a technology start-up company based in Austria, has developed a product which automates cavity measurement, eliminating the need for site visits by surveyors. This technology is quicker, more convenient, and provides more useful data than conventional surveys &ndash; and it depends for its operation on Movella&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.xsens.com/inertial-sensor-modules" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens MTi</a> technology.Excavation: a money pitHoles are big business in the construction industry. Building companies pay contractors for excavation work: the bigger the hole, the higher the fee for excavation. The material dug out of the ground &ndash; the &lsquo;spoil&rsquo; &ndash; also has a monetary value. This might be the cost to dispose of it. Or, if the spoil is a material such as gravel which can be repurposed, it has value to a customer who can buy and use it. Again, the bigger the volume of spoil, the higher the value.So measuring holes and spoil is a crucial function of any large building project. Classifying the type of material in the spoil is also essential, to determine whether it has any resale value, or requires special disposal measures.Today, surveying is the preserve of highly qualified professionals. Because of their scarcity and high levels of training and education, these professionals command high fees for their work. And since they are required to travel from site to site to perform surveys, building companies frequently have to organize their operations around the availability of a surveyor, rather than fitting surveys into building schedules.And of course any function performed by a human is subject to the risk of human error. This means that disputes over surveys are surprisingly common, adding yet more friction to the seemingly simple business of digging a hole in the ground.Ralf Pfefferkorn encountered this problem when developing a prototype for a robot excavator as a student project. Excavation appeared to be ripe with the potential for automation. So on graduation in 2017, Ralf and two colleagues, Raphael Ott and Bernhard Gantner, founded Sodex Innovations. Some five years later, Sodex gained the first customers for its fully automatic device for volumetric measurement of cavities, the SDX-4DVision system.The surveying machine: laser and camera-based technologyThe SDX-4DVision product is a system which combines high-technology laser scanners and cameras to calculate the 3D dimensions of an excavation. The accumulation of millions of measurements enables the system to build a detailed point cloud from which very accurate volumetric measurements can be calculated in real time (see Figure 1). As well as a laser scanner, the SDX-4DVision has a video camera which adds photographic documentation to the survey.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjY1NDc2NDE5NjQ4LVNvZGV4LmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Fig. 1: the laser scanner creates a continually updated scan of the depth and extent of a hole&nbsp;The SDX-4DVision unit is mounted on the boom of an excavator, from where it has an uninterrupted view of the ground (see Figure 2). The boom is the arm which controls the scoop, and constantly moves in all three dimensions<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjY1NDc2NDg1NjY2LVNvZGV4IDIgY3V0dGVkLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjY1NDc3MDc2MjcyLVNvZGV4IDMuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Fig. 2: the SDX-4DVision scanner is compatible with any type of excavatorTo use the point cloud as the basis for measuring the size of a hole, the system requires continuously georeferenced position data. It also needs to constantly adjust its calculation of the laser measurements to take account of the tilt and 3D position of the boom-mounted SDX-4DVision unit relative to its resting position.These sets of real-time motion data are provided by Movella motion sensors. The Xsens <a href="https://www.xsens.com/mti-630r" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MTi-630R</a> AHRS (attitude and heading reference system) provides acceleration, rate-of-turn and heading information so that the position of the boom relative to the chassis of the excavator can be continuously tracked.A second sensor, the Xsens&nbsp;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/mti-680g" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MTi-680G RTK GNSS/INS</a>, provides precise geolocation data from a satellite positioning signal supported by RTK (Real-Time Kinematics) signal enhancement, giving total geolocation accuracy of &plusmn;3cm.This sophisticated hardware platform supports the operation of Sodex&rsquo;s advanced software for calculating the volume of a cavity in real time, and for displaying this information in an easy-to-use format, in real time, at the Sodex cloud computing portal.&nbsp;<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XYEMagRvMSk?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe>Transforming construction business processesRalf Pfefferkorn says that the construction industry is just beginning to learn all the benefits which it can derive from implementing automated volume measurements with the SDX-4DVision. The most obvious advantage of using the SDX-4DVision is that surveying no longer requires a surveyor, with all the advantages of cost and convenience that this brings. Crucially, the Sodex technology also eliminates the risk of conflict which often arises after conventional surveys. Ralf Pfefferkorn says. &lsquo;Big property companies are starting to mandate use of the SDX-4DVision, because it provides a single, validated source of measurements, and gives a trusted basis for billing and invoicing which all parties in a construction project can agree to be bound by.&rsquo;But he says that even more value can come from the opportunity to rethink business processes. He says, &lsquo;With a surveyor, the construction project manager just gets a single snapshot in time. The difference with the SDX-4DVision is that measurements are produced continuously in real time, so project managers always know the exact status of an excavation minute-by-minute: how close it is to completion, whether some parts of the site take longer to excavate than others, and so on. So the SDX-4DVision product gives builders a completely new tool for better project management and the better design of workflows and construction processes.&rsquo;Of course, none of this would be possible if the SDX-4DVision product&rsquo;s measurements were not highly accurate, and for this, he says, Sodex has the Xsens MTi-630R and Xsens MTi-680G sensors to thank. &lsquo;The selection of the right motion sensors was a crucial part of the system design. Fortunately, we found the MTi-600 series, which gives us the right combination of high accuracy and a high output data rate, and at a price which is affordable for us and our customers. We are delighted with the performance of the devices in the SDX-4DVision.&rsquo;And there is every sign that the construction industry is delighted with the innovation of automated volumetric measurement, a sure sign that Sodex has a successful and exciting future ahead of it.

to building industry’s excavation problem with help of IMU and GNSS

Sodex constructs solution

Pouring layers of concrete like rows of toothpaste, an industrial-sized 3D printer this week continued adding a second floor to a Houston home that will be the first multistory printed structure in the United States.In addition to that achievement, designers <a href="https://aap.cornell.edu/people/leslie-lok" target="_blank">Leslie Lok</a> and <a href="https://aap.cornell.edu/people/sasa-zivkovic" target="_blank">Sasa Zivkovic</a>, assistant professors of architecture in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP) and co-principals of the <a href="https://www.hannah-office.org/contact" target="_blank">HANNAH Design Office</a>, say the two-story, single-family home is demonstrating innovative construction processes that can be scaled up to multifamily and mixed-use developments, helping to address housing shortages.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1663590284114-04_houston-3d-printed-house_3_credit-hannah-a_0.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A COBOD BOD2 3D construction printer builds structural elements of a Houston home that will be the first multistory 3D-printed structure in the United States. Leslie Lok and Sasa Zivkovic/Provided&nbsp;Their first-of-its-kind hybrid design connects structural elements composed of 3D-printed concrete with conventional wood framing representative of most U.S. residential construction. The combination shows how each material can be used where it works best, with minimal waste, to create buildings that are efficient, resilient against increasingly intense weather events and potentially more affordable.&ldquo;Our hybrid construction approach creates a building system that is structurally efficient, easily replicable and materially responsive,&rdquo; Lok said. &ldquo;The project also highlights the exciting design potential of mass-customized architectural components to meet homeowners&rsquo; needs and to simplify building system integration.&rdquo;Added Zivkovic: &ldquo;These design efforts aim to increase the impact, applicability, sustainability and cost-efficiency of 3D printing for future residential and multifamily buildings in the U.S.&rdquo;On Sept. 12, members of the media were invited to observe progress printing the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home that will also feature a two-car garage and a 40-foot chimney &ndash; making the home one of the tallest printed structures to date.The home is being built in partnership with PERI 3D Construction, which has completed six 3D-printed structures in the U.S. and Europe; Houston-based engineering and design-build contractor CIVE; and other building industry partners. The project team continues to seek industry collaborators and sponsors.For Lok, who leads the <a href="https://labs.aap.cornell.edu/rubi-lab" target="_blank">Rural-Urban Building Innovation Lab</a> at AAP, and Zivkovic, who leads the Robotic Construction Lab, the project is the latest to emerge from years of research into 3D printing&rsquo;s potential to enable &ldquo;mass customization&rdquo; without increasing costs. They previously experimented with a hybrid design utilizing 3D-printed concrete and upcycled wood for the <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2020/05/cabin-project-upcycles-ash-trees-sustainable-architecture" target="_blank">Ashen Cabin</a> project in upstate New York. Lok&rsquo;s <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/12/arts-quad-installation-upcycles-wood-mixed-reality" target="_blank">HoloWall installation</a> on the Arts Quad explored customization using nonuniform building materials and digital modeling tools. Zivkovic&#39;s prior research involves the development of new concrete printing methods and robotically fabricated timber components.The 4,000-square foot Houston project advances that work to a larger scale, one that will require another U.S. &ldquo;first&rdquo; &ndash; a relocation of the large gantry supporting the printer, measuring roughly 60 feet long, 30 feet wide and 30 feet tall, to complete the structure.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1663590328239-02_houston-3d-printed-house_visualization-1_credit-hannah-a_0.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Rendering of the two-story Houston home designed by Leslie Lok and Sasa Zivkovic, which features a first-of-its-kind hybrid design utilizing 3D-printed concrete and wood framing. Leslie Lok and Sasa Zivkovic/Provided&nbsp;Across various systems &ndash; from spray-foam insulation to a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system more common to commercial buildings &ndash; the designers say the home integrates design and construction processes well-suited to multifamily developments that will be needed to expand housing capacity in fast-growing cities like Houston.The designers said their approach could also accelerate construction timelines and reduce costs, since concrete printers may be operated by as few as three or four people. It also minimizes waste, as material can be mixed on demand and printed only for structurally important sections, and can more efficiently integrate wood framing in a modular design.&ldquo;Apart from printing technology, the integration of printing with building design and building materials, and the streamlining of construction process are important aspects in the realization of such a project,&rdquo; Zivkovic said. &ldquo;We are using this project to demonstrate how 3D printing is not only market-ready, but also capable of building well-designed and high-performance architecture.&rdquo;For the Houston home, the printed material is locally sourced and uses cement with a reduced carbon footprint, a mix that may include fly ash, slag and other industrial byproducts. The designers are collaborating with colleagues in the College of Engineering on research relating to ecofriendly building materials, including the potential for concrete to store methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Wood framing, meanwhile, is a renewable resource but is often a product of forest monocultures and may be transported over long distances.Lok and Zivkovic said the Houston home optimizes use of both materials while taking better advantage of their design potential than many structures limited to only one of them.&ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t a design out there,&rdquo; Lok said, &ldquo;that thinks about multifamily housing using these two systems together.&rdquo;

A construction 3D printer gantry is helping to build a Houston home that will be the first multistory 3D-printed structure in the U.S., also incorporating wood framing in a new hybrid design.

Pouring layers of concrete like rows of toothpaste, an industrial-sized 3D printer this week continued adding a second floor to a Houston home that will be the first multistory printed structure in the United States.

First-of-its-kind 3D-printed home blends concrete, wood

Welding is as much an art as a science, but knowing where MIG and TIG processes perform best is key to success.

Metal inert gas (MIG) and tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding have their advantages and disadvantages, but how do you pick the process that's right for your next manufacturing or repair project?

MIG vs TIG welding: Picking the right process for joining metals

Most conventional educational structural health monitoring systems use sensors to determine the dynamic response of the structure. The proposed tool is based on a radically different approach based on low-cost image processing.

New Image Recognition Technique for Intuitive Understanding in Class of the Dynamic Response of High-Rise Buildings

Replacing today&rsquo;s cement is one of the hardest challenges on the journey to a safe climate with zero emissions. There are many options to make cement with reduced emissions, mainly based on mixing new reactive cement (clinker) with other supplementary materials. However, until now, it has not been possible to make the reactive component of cement without emissions. The new invention achieves this for the first time within the parameters of established industrial processes.The inspiration for Cambridge Electric Cement struck inventor Cyrille Dunant, when he noticed that the chemistry of used cement is virtually identical to that of the lime-flux used in conventional steel recycling processes. The new cement is therefore made in a virtuous recycling loop, that not only eliminates the emissions of cement production, but also saves raw materials, and even reduces the emissions required in making lime-flux.The new process begins with concrete waste from demolition of old buildings. This is crushed, to separate the stones and sand that form concrete from the mixture of cement powder and water that bind them together. The old cement powder is then used instead of lime-flux in steel recycling. As the steel melts, the flux forms a slag that floats on the liquid steel, to protect it from oxygen in the air. After the recycled steel is tapped off, the liquid slag is cooled rapidly in air, and ground up into a powder which is virtually identical to the clinker which is the basis of new Portland cement. In pilot-scale trials of the new process, the Cambridge team have demonstrated this combined recycling process, and the results show that it has the chemical composition of a clinker made with today&#39;s process.The new cement was invented as part of the large multi-university <a href="http://www.ukfires.org/" target="_blank">UK FIRES</a> programme led by Professor Allwood, which aims to enable a rapid transition to zero emissions based on using today&rsquo;s technologies differently, rather than waiting for the new energy technologies of hydrogen and carbon storage. Invention of the cement has been rewarded with a new research grant of &pound;1.7m from EPSRC, to allow the inventors to collaborate with Dr Zushu Li at Warwick University and Dr Rupert Myers at Imperial College, to reveal the underlying science behind the new process. The new grant will fund an additional team of researchers, to probe the range of concrete wastes that can be processed into Cambridge Electric Cement, evaluate how the process interacts with steel making, and confirm the performance of the resulting material.Professor Allwood said &lsquo;If Cambridge Electric Cement lives up to the promise it has shown in early laboratory trials, it could be a turning point in the journey to a safe future climate. Combining steel and cement recycling in a single process powered by renewable electricity, this could secure the supply of the basic materials of construction to support the infrastructure of a zero emissions world and to enable economic development where it is most needed.&rsquo;

Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steel recycling process. For the Cambridge Electric Cement process this material will be cooled to make Portland Cement clinker. Credit: UKFIRES

Three Cambridge engineers, Dr Cyrille Dunant, Dr Pippa Horton and Professor Julian Allwood, have filed a patent and been awarded new research funding for their invention of the world’s first ever zero-emissions cement.